HOLLAND, Mich. -- About 15 hours after being defeated by an NCAA Division III power, the Covenant men's basketball team regrouped and knocked off four-time defending NCCAA Division II champion Grace Bible (Mich.) 65-62 on Saturday afternoon in the final game of the Holland Sentinel/Russ DeVette Classic hosted by Hope College.
Covenant (4-4) received another strong performance from Colton McGriff as he led the team with 21 points and seven rebounds. T.J. Cox poured in 12 points and dished out five assists in the win. Covenant knocked down a season-high nine 3-pointers.
McGriff was named an All-Tournament honoree after scoring 41 points combined in the two games. The sophomore was 7-of-13 from the field in today's contest and 5-of-8 from 3-point territory.
The Scots trailed 59-55 with just over three minutes remaining in the contest. Jon DeVries buried a 3-pointer to shrink the Covenant deficit to 59-58 and moments later Rosbie Mutcherson put the Scots up for good with a jumper that made it 60-59 with 2:08 left.
Both teams had empty possessions over the next minute and a half. Grace was finally forced to foul after DeVries grabbed an offensive rebound with less than 30 seconds to go. Mutcherson then calmly knocked down two free-throws to give the Scots a 62-59 lead with 23 seconds left.
After a Grace timeout, Grace's Nick Mascorro missed a jumper and Sam Bowman collected the rebound for Covenant. McGriff was fouled and he would hit a pair of free-throws to make it 64-59 with seven seconds left. Grace's Mascorro drained a 3-pointer, but another free-throw from Bowman would secure the victory for Covenant.
Grace (6-8) was led by BJ Van Loo's 12 points to lead four scorers in double figures. Zach Schutte tallied 11 points, while Mascorro and Greg Salmon each had 10 points.
Covenant trailed 16-13 midway through the first half, but then rattled off a 14-0 scoring run capped by two free-throws from Bryant Engbers that gave the Scots a 27-16 lead. Covenant would go into the break up 30-25.
In the second half, Covenant would again build its lead up to double digits as Cox connected on a 3-pointer to make it 45-35 in favor of the Scots with 15:39 left. Grace would respond by going on a 9-0 that ended with a Salmon jumper with 11:16 left that cut the Covenant lead to 45-44. The teams would trade baskets over the next few minutes until Covenant made the run that ultimately gave them the win.
Covenant not only had a season-high nine 3-pointers (on 19 attempts), but the Scots also delivered a season-high 16 assists while shooting 42.9 percent (24-56) from the field. The Scots also made 8-of-10 from the free-throw line and committed 16 turnovers, 10 fewer than the night before.
Grace made 47.2 percent (25-53) of its shots and 8-of-18 from 3-point land. Grace had a slight 32-31 rebounding edge.
Callum Sears chipped in eight points, while DeVries had six points and a team-high eight rebounds for Covenant.
The Scots will now be off from competition until after Christmas Break. The Covenant men's and women's teams will travel to Costa Rica December 14-21 for a missions trip. The men's team returns to play on January 2, 2013 against Crown (Minn.) College at 4 p.m. on Lookout Mountain.